As often times happens in my life... a random question popped into my brain while reading this news story about the recall effort against the Alderman Formerly Known as Michael McGee (emphasis mine):

Milwaukee elections officials have thrown out more than 800 of the roughly 2,850 signatures on petitions seeking to recall Ald. Mike McGee, the city's elections chief said Monday.

But that still leaves McGee opponent ViAnna Jordan with about 400 more than the minimum of 1,620 signatures needed to force the recall onto the February ballot, said Sue Edman, executive director of the city Election Commission.

Most of the signatures tossed out came from people who lived outside McGee's north side district, Edman said. The commission now must rule on McGee's challenge to the recall before deciding whether any more signatures should be disqualified.

How did they know?  Do you have to show ID before signing a petition?  Why didn't those people simply lie and write down a false address?  If 800 bad signatures seems like a lot to you, then just imagine how many illegitimate votes might appear every time there is a real election, when nobody is verifying the identity of those who go to the polls.

You know... just sayin.